Leave Me Breathless
Danske Grafikeres Hus
Press release:
In the exhibition Leave Me Breathless a series of copper prints and plaster reliefs created specifically for Danske Grafikeres Hus is presented. The exhibition title has several meanings; the title has the air of both light-hearted yet melancholic universe of pop music but is simultaneously imbued with ferocity and fervour.
The elongated, vertical plaster reliefs spread over the exhibition spaces’ two floors, as a kind of small portals the viewer can step into, yet at same time they are completely concrete. The reliefs are plaster casts of cardboard and construction materials found on streets, building sites and similar places. One materiality transferred into another materiality. The surface of the reliefs may appear plain, but it represents a micro-landscape filled with memories and stories that slowly reveal themselves to the viewer. The reliefs appear both hard and fragile, corporeal, and industrial at the same time.
The new prints use a stretched version of the baroque image of St. Sebastian painted by Peter Paul Rubens in around 1614 as a starting point. A mythological figure always swinging between pleasure and torment. Saint Sebastian – today a central reference in the queer milieu – has been painted by many artists throughout history of art, typically in the nude as a physically beautiful youth with arrows pierced into his body and his gaze directed towards the hereafter. In the new copper prints, through the restless markings and deconstructed motif, the body appears more ambiguous.
The copper prints have been created in collaboration with Printer’s Proof and at the Danish Art Workshops.
The exhibition has been generously supported by Den Hielmstierne-Rosencronske Stiftelse, Fjølrit, Grosserer L.F. Foghts Fond, Københavns Kommune, Lizzi og Mogens Staal Fonden, Poul Johansen Fonden, Mentanargrunnur Landsins, Almanna- og Mentamálaráðið, and Statens Kunstfond.
© Jóhan Martin Christiansen 2024. All rights reserved.